Ministerul Educaţiei Naționale

Centrul Naţional de Evaluare şi Examinare

Etapa județeană/sectoarelor municipiului București a olimpiadelor naționale școlare - 2019

Probă scrisă

Limba engleză

CLASA a VIII-a

 Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii.

 Nu se acordă puncte din oficiu.
 Timpul efectiv de lucru este de 2 ore.

SUBIECTUL I – USE OF ENGLISH (25 points)

I.1. Read the following text and fill in the blanks with the correct verb forms. 10 points

I 1) (be born) _____in Japan but when I was a toddler we moved to Romania. I 2) (go) _____ to school
in Bucharest. While I 3) (study) _____ at University I 4) (have) _____ a serious accident. I 5) (never
think) _____that I would ever end up in a hospital bed for a couple of months due to an unfortunate
mistake. While I 6) (lie) ____ there I started using the computer to kill time. By the time I got out of the
hospital I 7) (already become) _____ very good at offering advice for all my friends’ troubles and I
realised I was able to cheer people up. So, I decided to go on-line and change that into a home-based
business. I 8) (work)_____ like that since then. I like the job because it allows me to speak to a lot of
people. That is why I am thinking about some ways of expanding my business: I 9) (take)_____a course
in psychology if I 10) (know) _____ that in five years I would double my income.

I.2. Read the following text and decide which answer (A, B or C) best fits in each gap. 10 points

"No letter (1) …… come from you since you (2) …… the Philippines, but I'm sure you are all fine
because no notice has come to me from the War Department as your next (3) …… kin. All I know is that
your regiment is in Peking, and I hope and pray you are with it, all safe and (4) …… . Sister Mary and I
are pretty busy, as there has been no one to help us (5) …… the place since your brother died last
spring. I know your enlistment isn’t up for (6) …… year, and it's wicked to desert, and they would shoot
you for it anyhow; but it does seem kind of (7) …… when we want you so much at home that you have
to be fighting the poor Chinamen. (8) …… as long as we all have our health there aren't any real
troubles I suppose.
I don't mean to (9) …… fault and you mustn't worry about us. I'm as active as a cricket and so is Mary.
It's been a good long spell of dry weather, and that's good for my rheumatism, but it wasn't very
encouraging for the crops. The (10) …… on the house and farm is due in six weeks, and I can't get a
renewal, though it's only six hundred dollars, as you know. The bank people are that haughty about the
thing that I don't exactly see how we can get around them.”

1. a. has 2. a. left from

b. had b. left
c. would c. left to
3. a. to 4. a. happy
b. of b. sound
c. from c. sane
5. a. at 6. a. lap
b. for b. the past
c. with c. another

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Centrul Naţional de Evaluare şi Examinare

7. a. hard 8. a. Although
b. great b. But
c. exciting c. Since
9. a. find 10. a. mortgage
b. lie b. auction
c. blame c. loan

I.3. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in each sentence. 5 points

1. There are …… for the job in all local newspapers. ADVERTISE

2. I ……think she is the best for that job. HONESTY
3. This theory has not been …. proved yet. SCIENCE
4. Were you given …...when you were a child? ALLOW
5. Don’t ….. my message! This is not what I said! INTERPRETATION

SUBIECTUL al II-lea – READING COMPREHENSION (25 points)

Read the text below and choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually known as Kew Gardens, in Richmond upon Thames is a
major London tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Founded in 1759, Kew began as a royal garden attached to the Royal Kew Palace, home to George III
and his many children. The Palace is now open to visitors, but probably the buildings most visitors come
to see are the incredible glasshouses. The Palmhouse is one of the largest surviving Victorian
glasshouses in the world, with over 16,000 panes of glass. The Waterly House, which contains some of
the world’s largest and smallest waterlilies, is also not to be missed.

However, Kew is more than just a garden and green space in the heart of Britain’s capital city. It is also
the world’s leading horticultural centre for botanical research and plant science. The Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, covers approximately three hundred acres of land, and attracts around a million visitors
every year. Its collections and laboratories illustrate the important part that plants play in our lives, and
highlight the need to protect and conserve them for the benefit of generations to come.

Kew is a vital research and scientific base, with multiple research projects and partnerships stretching
across the globe. A world leader in plant science, Kew employs around seven hundred people and is
home to about nineteen thousand species of living plants. Its Millennium Seed Bank holds seeds from
around ten percent of the world’s plant species for the benefit of humankind, curating around two billion
seeds from 28,000 species of plants, sourced from approximately 130 countries.

Around eighty percent of our daily calorie intake comes from just twelve plant species. Kew’s Millennium
Seed Bank’s Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change project recognizes the need for greater genetic
diversity in our crops and seeks to preserve food security for future generations. The project collects
seeds from the wild relatives of some of our most important food crop plants whose genetic make-up
can be used to breed new and useful traits back into modern agricultural crops so that they can better
adapt to future climates and other threats, such as pests and diseases.

1. According to the text, people’s most important reason for visiting Kew is that
A. they want to see the indoor plants.
B. it is attached to the Royal Kew Palace.
C. the descendants of George III used to play in this garden.
D. it is a source of oxygen.

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Centrul Naţional de Evaluare şi Examinare

2. The role of the horticultural centre is

A. to gather money from the numerous visitors.
B. to sell seeds.
C. to warn visitors to keep off the grass.
D. to protect the seeds for the benefit of future generations.

3. Among its many functions, Kew is NOT

A. a garden in the middle of London.
B. a research establishment.
C. home to the Queen of England.
D. an important touristic attraction.

4. Kew employees work

A. exclusively for their own benefit.
B. exclusively for the benefit of the British people.
C. for the benefit of humanity.
D. for the royal family.

5. Kew’s Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change project aims

A. to change the climate in order to harvest more.
B. to store more than nineteen thousand species.
C. to ensure food resources for the coming generations.
D. to make people addicted to genetically modified plants.

SUBIECTUL al III-lea –WRITING (50 points)

Write a narrative essay ending like this:

She resisted the urge to wave. To acknowledge them was to make them real.

Write your story in 150-180 words and give it an appropriate title. Pay attention to the following:

 you don’t need to write long descriptions;

 use dialogues only if they are relevant to your characters or events;
 you should use this plan:

1. Introduction (paragraph 1 – set the scene)

2. Main Body (paragraph(s) 2/3 – develop the story)
3. Conclusion (paragraph 4 – end the story).

Don’t count the given ending.

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